.Afghanistan risks losing support
"We have saved this country from another civil war and people from starving," Afghan president Hamid Karzai told Spiegel magazine last month. "... there are new roads, the first students received their degrees from Kabul University a few days ago. That is great!"
Yes, it is. But the endemic incompetence and double-dealing that plagues Afghan state institutions is not. It is dangerous. Unchecked, it will steadily erode international support for Afghanistan's reconstruction, to the point where foreign troops, including Canada's, will leave. Were that to happen, Karzai's government would not likely last long.
How immediate a threat is this? Right now, not very. NATO has said it is in Afghanistan for the long haul. Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has signaled this will change under the next U.S. administration.
But that does not absolve the Afghan government of responsibility for putting its house in order. Karzai has been at this for a while now. It was back in November of 2002 that he launched his first high-profile "purge" of corrupt officials.
And yet today, in 2008, it emerges that a massive jail break from Kandahar's biggest prison, was likely an inside job. A gaggle of senior Afghan security officials are being investigated for complicity in the jail break.
It doesn't end there. The governor of Kandahar, Assadullah Khalid, has been accused of being personally involved in torture -- a claim he denies. Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of Kandahar's provincial council and also the president's brother, has been accused of involvement in the opium trade. This, too, the Karzais deny.
At the same time, the Taliban insurgency shows no signs of cooling. On the contrary, the number of insurgent attacks have increased sharply this year. Ordinary Afghans who back the Taliban often cite corruption in the Karzai government as their reason.
There is no standing still. Afghanistan will move forward, or it will move back. Karzai needs to do more to make sure it moves forward. Or, he will lose the unwavering international support that he has so far enjoyed.
Edmontonsun
Yes, it is. But the endemic incompetence and double-dealing that plagues Afghan state institutions is not. It is dangerous. Unchecked, it will steadily erode international support for Afghanistan's reconstruction, to the point where foreign troops, including Canada's, will leave. Were that to happen, Karzai's government would not likely last long.
How immediate a threat is this? Right now, not very. NATO has said it is in Afghanistan for the long haul. Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has signaled this will change under the next U.S. administration.
But that does not absolve the Afghan government of responsibility for putting its house in order. Karzai has been at this for a while now. It was back in November of 2002 that he launched his first high-profile "purge" of corrupt officials.
And yet today, in 2008, it emerges that a massive jail break from Kandahar's biggest prison, was likely an inside job. A gaggle of senior Afghan security officials are being investigated for complicity in the jail break.
It doesn't end there. The governor of Kandahar, Assadullah Khalid, has been accused of being personally involved in torture -- a claim he denies. Ahmed Wali Karzai, the head of Kandahar's provincial council and also the president's brother, has been accused of involvement in the opium trade. This, too, the Karzais deny.
At the same time, the Taliban insurgency shows no signs of cooling. On the contrary, the number of insurgent attacks have increased sharply this year. Ordinary Afghans who back the Taliban often cite corruption in the Karzai government as their reason.
There is no standing still. Afghanistan will move forward, or it will move back. Karzai needs to do more to make sure it moves forward. Or, he will lose the unwavering international support that he has so far enjoyed.
Edmontonsun
posted by madtom at 3:53 PM
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